Black vinyl with gatefold cover and poster

Gothenburgs Air Raid shows that Sweden once again proves to therest of the metal world that they are producing more than justrehashed black metal and copycat 90’s death metal. During the lastyears there have been plenty of revival bands that playstraditional metal and for the most part, they have been very apt atcreating a solid case for sanctioned mimicry. That said, Air Raidfinally produces its first full-length release after a pretty solidEP in Danger Ahead, itself a full-speed ahead foray into the dustydin of heavy metal antiquity. Try as they might, the youngergeneration couldn’t kill this sound with a book of matches or astained goblet of gore. Night of the Axe provides exactly what youthink it might: a crunchy blueprint into past architecture thatcalls upon the likely culprits in Judas Priest and Saxon whilestanding tall next to modern heavyweights as Steelwing orSpellcaster. The vocals are a throaty rasp that takes fulladvantage of the clean bellowing that I personally grew up on, andit’s done without benefit of overplaying a vocal hand. There are nobells and whistles to overcompensate for a lack of anything; thereare even moments where I hear some Warrel Dane tones to MichaelRinakakis’ delivery. This is particularly noteworthy in “DyingMan”, which has all of the earmarks of viable heavy metal brashnessfrom any given era. Lyrically and musically, Air Raid defies theodds and emerges well over the contemporaries when attempting tocreate music of such an empowering caliber. When I listen to thisrecord for the second time I hear quite a bit of Grave Digger’sinfluential take on fantasy-evoking verses throughout, but the realattention-grabber for me is the guitar solos that take the bestthat Scott Gorham would have offered had he joined a full-on metaloutfit long ago. The riffs are crisp and glorified in all the rightspots, adding the right amounts of punch, thickness and credulityto the music as it passes the ear canals with all of thetrepidation of a steroid-jacked earwig vying for a safe haven. Thefine production that accentuates the guitar tones pretty nicely isgreat, but I don’t hear much bass in the mix which is unfortunatebecause it would have been a much heavier sound with some back endholding up the foundation, but it’s a small gripe. What I actuallyfound wonderful was the instrumental track “Reminisce”, whichliterally comes right on the hells of the speedy “Call of theWarlock” and settles all of the swirling dust underfoot in slight,careful wisps of wonder. It’s an absolutely inspired place to putit as opposed to the obligatory final track settlement that, whilestill a great track, might not have had the same emotionalresonance it had easing the tempestuousness of the precedingtracks. I dig that sort of careful placement that might otherwiseseem throw-away ideas. When you get to the finale in “A Blade inthe Dark” the Iron Maiden feel is so incredibly vibrant that Ican’t help but think back to the Powerslave or Somewhere in Timeeras and smile, knowing that finally someone understands that useof subtle nuances are much more advantageous than full-on thievery;this should be handed out in manuals for any new band bent onrecreating the wheel past the first chapter of “Chapter One: YouCan’t Reinvent the Wheel”. Just go with your inspirations andcreate your own music, a feat Air Raid does quite well. Within thespan of 40-minutes Air Raid takes you on a journey into heavy metalsupremacy with ten tracks designed primarily to elevate yourstagnated expectations beyond what you could imagine It’s actuallyrefreshing to hear such basic elements being used to their mostsupreme potential. If I were to say this is very much like a great80’s metal entry it would most likely unfairly date the music, soI’ll just suffice it to say that this little jaunt backwards isdefinitely a full leap forward.

Track listing:
1. Treason
2. Night Of The Axe
3. The Lost City
4. Highway Legion
5. Dying Man
6. Raiders Of Hell
7. Call Of The Warlock
8. Reminiscence
9. Riding Out
10. A Blade In The Dark

Condition cover: nm

Condition vinyl: nm

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